Keeping HIP on the Road
ROD WEBB
Hastings Independent is a print newspaper that attempts to be both for the community and by the community – but given that our town is a particularly diverse community, that can be a difficult task. On the one hand Hastings has a high concentration of creatives, but on the other, there’s a lack of job opportunities; there’s also been a recent influx of wealth, but Hastings maintains its unenviable status as one of the most deprived areas of England.
It’s a difficult balancing act and, inevitably, we sometimes get it wrong. That’s why, on our tenth anniversary, we would really like this redesigned issue to connect with all kinds of people in Hastings. The look of a paper has a surprising effect on who picks up a copy, and the more people pick one up, the more we hope a wider range of people will engage with it.
We hope this article will give you information and insight into why you should.
LISTINGS
The HIP List has been part of Hastings Independent in one form or another since 2014, when it started as a Music Listings page. It went on to deliver free advertising for local activities: music, film, performance, general events and classes. There have been many attempts to replicate this in print and online, but we still feel it is one of the best. We also think it can be improved – which is why we have increased the section from four to eight pages. This not only gives space for more listings but also allows us to preview articles and include adverts.
We’ve increased the space, so now it’s up to you to provide us with the content. We would particularly like to have add a section on things for children: toddlers to young teenagers, so why not volunteer as a Listings coordinator for that section?
Of course, to find Listings, you first have to pick up a paper and open it; so we’re glad to see you already have.
FINANCING THE PAPER
We rely heavily on advertising to finance the paper, with printing being the most costly aspect. Why print? Because it’s still in demand and sets us apart from other media outlets that are online only (and still has a kind of status). With a current distribution of 7,000 copies, many of them read multiple times while people are out and about enjoying a break or waiting for a haircut, HIP is a good platform for advertisers – and the rates are reasonable.
But advertising doesn’t fund all our outgoings, so we have to find other income. The other sources are:
The Friends subscription: (find out more here hastingsindependentpress.co.uk/become-a-friend) It’s an enormous help to have a steady income. Thanks to those who already subscribe – and to those who are about to!
Donations: If you feel you suddenly wish to donate rather than subscribe, please do.
Supplements: For organisations and businesses that have a lot of information to put to the community, this is a very reasonable option (see here for a typical supplement: tinyurl.com/5n7acstm)
Events: Our most recent event, the Hootenanny, hosted by Henning Wehn, went down a storm. We also raised money via three art auctions in 2018, 2021 and 2022.
MISCONCEPTIONS
People who regularly read the paper may still be unaware that the paper is also available online – even some of our contributors or subjects of our articles may not realise they can post their article online to spread their message further. In fact there are several web versions of the paper, the first two available on the website:
- The fully laid out paper that you can read online as a pdf
- Individual articles – that you can read and comment on should you wish.
- A weekly newsletter that provides a digest of the paper with some additional comment
If you read articles online, you can comment at the end of the article. If the comment is interesting and sufficiently short, we can also publish it in the print edition (or we can also edit the comment). If you read the print edition, you can email us at [email protected] or go online and add the comment to the article there. However we get it, we’re always happy to hear your views – in as polite a form as possible.
Perhaps the biggest misconception is that we work from a comfortable office with high tech equipment and a helpful administrative department to keep the wheels well oiled. In reality, we are all volunteers working from home and doing it for whatever reason that motivates us (except money). Having said that, our designer is paid, but below market rate and our sales director is paid on commission.
As our biggest expense is printing, we need to keep the money flowing in every month. This can be a nailbiting process sometimes, especially at this time of the year which is the quietest time for many businesses – who are also counting their pennies.
And for those interested, we operate as a Community Interest Company (CIC) rather than a charity because this gives us a greater degree of flexibility as well as being easier to set up.
WHAT DO WE GET OUT OF IT?
There are many reasons that people start working with HIP and there are numerous ways to get involved:
- As a contributor: you can contribute whenever you have something you want to write about, so this doesn’t involve too much commitment. And you don’t have to be the new Charles Dickens, just someone with something to say.
- As a subber: you can check other people’s articles to make sure there are no mistakes and that they are fit for purpose – or so we hope.
- As a distributor: we always need help with delivering HIP to our expanding range of outlets.
- As a section editor: you would look after one of the sections (or part of one of the sections) of the paper and decide which articles to put on our pages. At the moment, several sections need volunteers, including Health, Community and perhaps something for people with young families.
Compiling Listings can be for those who like finding out about what’s going on in the town or are motivated to do so by a two-week deadline; others, perhaps altruistic, just like to feel they are providing a useful service. Our listings coordinator often needs help with compiling the different activity types, so get in touch if you feel you could help out.
Like all media outlets, we’re also on social media, so we have a social media editor as well as a newsletter editor. Then of course there’s the art director and the sales director (their importance demonstrated by their job titles).
What we don’t have is a the ‘helpful administrative assistant’. If there’s anyone who would like to help keep this show on the road, we’d be very happy to hear from you. Just one day a week – or even every two weeks – would be very wonderful.
We hope you have enjoyed reading this article. The future of our volunteer led, non-profit publication would be far more secure with the aid of a small donation. You can also support local journalism by becoming a friend of HIP. It only takes a minute and we would be very grateful.
Leave a Reply